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Th( 
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the 
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y 


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26X 


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24X 


28X 


32X 


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illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

I^^^^S^SmwI 


>r  >^ 


/ 


V 


SAN    JUAN    ISLAND. 


J 


SPEECH 


Of 


1} 


b 


HOI.  JACOB  1.  HOWARD, 


OF  MicHia^isr, 


D£UV£RE|} 


IN    EXECUTIVE    SESSION    OF    THE    SENATE, 


APRIL    16,  1869, 


(THE  INJUNCTION  OF  SECRECY  HAVINU  BEEN  UEMOVEDJ 


WASHINGTON: 
R  &  J.  RIVES  &  GEO.  A.   BAILEY, 

RKI'ORTEIIS  AND  PHINTKHS  OF  THK  DKBATKS  OF  CONGHKSS 

1870. 


■I 


H 


SAN    JUAN    ISLAND. 


SPEECH 


or 


HON.  JACOB  M.  HOWAED, 


OF    MICHIGAN, 


|1 

0. 


DELIVERED 


IN    EXECUTIVE    SESSION    OF    THE    SENATE, 


iPRIl   16,  1860, 


l-i 


(THE  INJUNCTION  OP  SECRECY  HA  VINO  BEEN  REMOVED.) 


WASHINGTON: 
P.  &  J.  RIVES  &  GEO.  A.  BAILEY, 

BEPOBTERS  AND  PRINTEBS  OF  TUB  DEBATES  OF  CONGRESS. 

1870. 


foURjoKi 


% 


SAN    JUAN    ISLAND. 


m 

my 


The  Semite,  beinft  in  executive  session  on  the  pro- 
posed treaty  with  Qreat  Britain  of  January  It,  18G9, 
for  the  settlement,  by  arbitration,  of  the  water- 
boundary  lino  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  in  Puget  sound,  the  injunction  of  secrecy^ 
having  been  removed  J  ■  'iruary  4,  1870— 

Mr.  HOWARD  said: 

Mr.  PiiKSiDENT:  The  island  of  San  Juan  is 
one  of  the  nutneroua  (jroup  of  islands  in  Puget's 
sound,  on  tlie  Pacific  coast.  On  the  wchL  it 
is  separated  from  Vancouver's  Island  by  the 
channel  known  as  the  straits  of  Haro,  and  lies 
al)0ut  fifteen  miles  from  the  southern  extremity 
of  Vancouver.  It  is  about  fifteen  miles  long 
and  on  an  average  six  or  seven  miles  broad. 
It  has  a  good  soil  and  a  plenty  of  timber,  as 
well  as  extensive  quarries  of  limestone.  By 
our  countrymen  this  island  has  been  claimed 
to  belong  to  the  United  States,  under  the 
boundary  treaty  between  us  and  Great  Britain, 
of  June  15th,  1846.  It  at  first  fell  within  the 
limits  of  Oregon  Territory,  and  was  embraced 
within  one  of  its  counties.  Territorial  taxes 
were  levied  and  collected  there  upon  property 
belonging  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  as 
well  as  that  of  American  settlers. 

In  1859  a  dispute  arose  as  to  the  rightful 
jurisdiction  of  the  .United  States  over  the 
island.  A  Scotchman  had  an  unruly  pig  that 
got  into  the  potato  patch  of  a  Yankee  settler  and 
did  him  damage.  The  Yankee  remonstrated 
once  and  again  with  the  Scotchman,  but  to  no 
effect;  and,  losing  his  patience,  as  he  should 
not  have  done,  he  took  his  rifle  and  shot  the 
animal.  A  warrant  was  at  once  issued  for  his 
apprehension  by  aBritish  magistrate  at  Victoria 
on  Vancouver's  Island  ;  and  a  Mr.  Dallas,  son- 
in-law  of  Mr.  Douglas,  Governor  of  British 
Columbia,  came  over  from  Victoria  to  aid  in 
making  the  arrest,  threatening  to  take  the  de- 
fendant and  carry  him  over  to  Victoria  for  trial. 


The  defendant  denied  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
British  authorities,  and  refused  to  be  arrested ; 
he  protested  that  the  island  was  American  soil, 
on  which  British  process  could  not  be  served, 
and  stubbornly  refused  to  be  tried  by  a  British 
court  on  Vancouver's  Island.  The  controversy 
waxed  warm.  He  was  told  he  had  shot  his 
neighbor's  pig.  He  admitted  it,  and  offered  to 
pay  the  owner  twice  the  value  of  the  pig,  but 
as  for  being  taken  over  to  Vancouver  for  trial 
he  would  not,  and  told  Mr.  Dallas  plainly  that 
if  he  attempted  to  seize  him  for  that  purpose 
he  would  use  the  same  rifle  in  shooting  him 
and  the  officer  holding  the  warrant. 

The  parley  ended  here.  No  attempt  was 
made  to  seize  him.  But  the  event  seems  to 
have  occasioned  a  sensation  in  Victoria  as  well 
as  on  the  island.  General  Harney,  command- 
ing the  department,  ordered  a  company  of 
American  troops  at  Fort  Bellingham  to  be 
posted  on  San  Juan  to  protect  the  American 
settlers  from  such  outrages,  as  well  as  from  the 
depredations  of  marauding  Indians  from  the 
north.  The  captain  of  this  company  was  im- 
mediately warned  off  the  island  by  the  agent 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  He  of  course 
disregarded  the  warning ;  and  taereupon  three 
British  ships  of  war  approached  the  island  in  a 
menacing  manner.  But  this  attempt  to  intimi- 
date did  not  move  Captain  Picket.  He  still 
remained  at  his  post  on  the  island,  within  short 
ran^e  ">f  the  British  guns.  Governor  Douglas 
thAndered  forth  a  proclamation  that  the  "  sov- 
ereignty of  the  island  of  San  Juan  and  of  the 
whole  of  the  Haro  Archipelago  has  always  been 
undeviatingly  nlaimed  in  the  Crown  of  Great 
Britain,"  and  that  the  "  sovereignty  thereof 
by  right  now  is  and  always  hath  beeii  ia  her 
Majesty  Queen  Victoria  and  her  predecessors, 
kings  of  Great  Britain."  This  was  on  the  2d 
of  August,  1869. 

In  the  midst  of  these  troubles  President 


Buchanan  dispatched  General  Scott  to  Paget 
sound.  The  General,  without  atleniptiiif;  to 
settle,  or  even  to  inquire  into  the  nit'ritH  of 
the  question  of  jurisdiction,  eiit(!red  into  an 
agreement  with  Governor  Douglas  for  a  joint 
military  occupatioti  of  the  island  by  the  United 
Stales  and  Great  Britain,  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  civil  authorities  of  either,  temporarily,  and 
until  it  would  be  settled  by  the  two  Govern- 
ments. And  such  is  its  present  status. 

The  question  now  presents  itself.  Who  owns 
San  Juan  Island?  And  this  is  the  main  ques- 
tion before  us. 

The  original  claim  of  Great  Britain,  as  put 
forth  in  the  protocol  of  .Inly  ;5,  1824,  was  the 
forty-ninth  degree  of  north  Intilude  extended 
to  a  point  where  that  line  cuts  the  Cohiinbia 
river ;  thence  down  the  middle  of  that  river  to 
the  Pacific  ocean,  the  navigation  of  tlu-  whole 
channel  of  the  river  to  be  free  to  both  parties. 
(Senate  Doc,  No.  1,  first  session  Twenty- 
Ninth  Congress,  p.  144,  in  note.) 

This  would  have  given  to  Great  Britain 
almost  the  whole  of  Washington  Territory,  for 
the  forty-ninth  parallel  strikes  the  Columbia 
at  what  is  now  known  on  the  maps  as  Fort 
Shepard  or  New  Colville;  and  also  something 
more  than  fpur  degrees  of  sea-coast  on  the 
Pacific  now  belonging  to  the  United  Slates, 
stretching  from  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
northwestwardly  to  the  middle  of  the  straits 
of  E'uca,  the  length  of  tliis  strip  of  coast  being 
about  three  hundred  miles. 

On  the  26tli  of  August,  1844,  at  the  confer- 
ence held  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  then  Secretary  of 
State,  and  Mr.  Pakenham,  the  British  pleni- 
potentiary, the  latter  so  fur  modified  this  claim 
as  to  offer  to  make  free  to  the  United  States 
any  port  or  ports  which  the  United  States 
Government  might  desire,  either  on  the  main 
land  or  on  Vancouver's  Island,  south  of  latitude 
forty-nine. 

At  another  conference,  held  by  the  same 
ministers  on  the  2d  September,  1844,  Mr.  Cal- 
houn expressly  declined  this  proposal  of  the 
British  plenipotentiary. 

Thus  the  matter  stood  till  Mr.  Polk  became 
President  of  the  United  States,  in  March,  1845, 
no  real  progress  having  been  made  in  the  nego- 
tiation. 

Mr.  Buchanan  then  promptly  took  up  the 
subject,  and  the  correspondence  between  the 
two  Governments  became  very  active.  War 
menaced  the  two  countries,  growing  outoft^ir 
disagreements  touching  the  boundary  line  from 
the  crest  of  the  Rocky  mountains  to  the  Pacific 
ocean.  • 

Our  Government  manifested  a  dignified  but 
firm  determination  not  to  yield  to  the  exorbi- 
tant demands  of  Great  Britain,  and  were  en- 
tirely ready,  if  Great  Britain  saw  fit,  to  settle 
the  controversy  by  the  sword.  This  was  clearly 
manifest  to  the  British  Government. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1846,  less  than  a  month 


before  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  June  15  of 
that  year,  Mr.  McLane,  our  minister  at  Ijon- 
don,  wrote  to  Mr.  Buchanan  a  very  important 
dispatch.     He  says ; 

"I  liuvn-now  to  acquiiintynu  thnt  after  the  rcpoipt 
of  yfiur  (lisinitclics  (in  the  15th  instiiiit,  liy  the  Ciil- 
iiddiiia,  I  hiul  a  lengthened  conl'erenco  with  Lord 
Aberdeen,  on  wliieh  oeciisioii  the  resumption  of  tlio 
ncKotiationfor  anamieableaettletnentotUie  OieBon 
f|ue.stion,  anil  the  nature  of  the  proposition  hneon- 
teinplatcd  aubinitliiiK  for  that  purpose,  foruK'd  the 
f abject  of  a  full  and  free  eon versation.  I  have  now 
to  state  tliat  instructions  will  be  tninsinitled  to  Mr. 
I'akenham  by  the  sti^ainer  of  to-iuorrow  to  s-ibiuit  a 
new  and  fiirlhor  proposition  on  the  part  of  this(}ov- 
ornnient  for  a  piirtition  of  the  territory  in  dis|)ute. 

"The  proposition  most  probably  will  ofl'er  sub- 
strintially— 

"Fimt.  To  divide  the  territory  by  the  extension  of 
the  line  on  the  parallel  of  forty-nine  to  the  sea;  that 
is  to  say.  to  the  arm  of  the  sea  ealled  IJireh's  bay  ; 
thence  by  the  eanal  Do  Jliiro  and  straits  of  Fue.i  to 
tlie  oe(!an;  and  contirmingto  the  United  Stateawhat 
indeed  they  would  (lossess  without  any  speeial  eon- 
firniation — the  rijiht  freely  to  use  aud  navigate  the 
strait  throughout  its  extent." 

The  letter  mentions  two  other  propositions, 
to  accompany  the  former,  but  as  they  do  not 
relate  to  the  line  of  boundary,  but  only  to  the 
rights  of  British  subjects  and  American  citi- 
zens on  each  side  of  the  contemplated  line,  it  ia 
unnecessary  further  to  mention  tlietn. 

Mr.  McLane  must  have  derived  this  inform- 
ation directly  from  his  conversation  with  Lord 
Aberdeen,  held  the  day  before — a  conversation 
which  he  described  as  a  "lengthened  confer- 
ence ;"  and  he  speaks  of  the  proposal  about  to 
be  made  by  the  latter  as  having  "  formed  the 
subject  of  a  full  and  free  conversation  "  with 
Lord  Aberdeen  ;  nay,  it  is  fair  to  infer,  from 
his  subsequent  language  in  the  same  dispatch, 
that  he  had  actually  seen  Lord  Aberdeeii'a 
treaty,  for  he  says:  "It  is  scarcely  necessary 
for  me  to  state  that  the  proposition,  as  now 
submitted,  has  not  received  my  countenance." 

On  the  Gth  of  June  a  conference  took  place 
between  Mr.  Buchanan  and  Mr.  Pakenhani 
at  the  State  Department,  when  the  British 
minister  submitted  to  him  the  draft  of  a  con- 
vention, which,  in  the  language  of  the  protocol, 
signed  the  same  day  by  them  both,  was  the 
result  of  the  motives  that  "had  induced  her 
Majesty's  Government  to  instruct  him  to  make 
another  proposition  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  for  a  solution  of  these  long- 
existing  diflficulties." 

On  the  10th  of  June  President  Polk  com- 
municated this  proposition  to  the  Senate  for 
their  consideration.  His  message  also  inclosed 
the  protocol  of  the  6th. 

The  first  article  of  this  proposed  convention, 
drawn  up  by  Lord  Aberdeen  in  London,  and 
thus  made  known  to  our  minister,  Mr.  McLane, 
on  the  17th  of  May,  and  transmitted  on  the  19th 
to  Mr,  Pakenham,  is  in  exactly  the  same  words 
as  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  signed  at  Wash- 
ington on  the  15th  of  the  following  June  ;  so 
that  the  interpretation  of  it  ought  to  have  refer- 


aation  "   wit 


price  to  Loril  Aberdeen's  intention  at  the  tin  > 

lie  |in)|)OS(i(i  it. 

lint  l)i!r()r<'  I  proceed  to  tlie  discussion  of  this 
iiitcniioii,  let.  tiK!  eiid(!HVor  to  show  from  'iie 
provisions  of  the  trciit.y  itself  that  this  claim 
of  the  British  (Joveriiment  is  foreclosed  and 
conchuli'd.  The  lirst  article  of  the  proposed 
coiiviMition  reads  as  follows,  and,  as  I  have 
rcinnrked,  is  identical  in  laiigiuige  with  the  lirst 
ariicle  of  the  treaty  : 

"From  the  point  on  the  forty-ninlh  pnrnllcl  of 
nmlli  latiluclc  wIuto  tho  bouiidiiry  liiiildowii  in  ox- 
istiiii;  Iri'iitins  iind  ronvcntions  betwoon  (ireiit  lirit- 
tiin  luul  till!  Linitcil  Stiiti's  ttTininalu.i,  the  lino  ot 
liDiiniliiry  bflwoen  the  toi'-itories  of  hor  Hritaiinic 
Miijesly  anil  Iho-oof  the  UiiilcilStntes  shall  bo  con- 
tinued WL'stwanl  along  tho  paid  lorty-nintli  parallid 
ot'norlh  latitudo  (o  tho  uiiddlo  of  thocliannci  whiidi 
separates  tho  continent  fruui  Vaneoiivcr's  Island: 
and  Ihenoo  southerly,  ihrouBli  the  middle  of  tlio  said 
ehaiinel  and  of  L'uia's  straits,  to  th(!  I'acifin  ocean: 
jHriiviil'd,  lii»vt:iyi:r.  That  the  naviRation  of  tho  whole 
of  the  saiil  ehannel  anil  straits  south  of  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude  remain  free  and  open 
to  both  parties." 

The  leading  subject  of  this  article  is  the 
channel  which  sejiarates  the  continent  from 
Vancouver's  Island.  It  was  then  well  known, 
from  charts  and  maps  which  were  before  Lord 
Aberdeen,  particularly  Vancouver's  map,  that 
east  of  Vancouver's  Island,  and  between  it 
and  the  shore  of  the  main  continent,  lay  a 
group  of  twelve  or  fifteen  islands,  forming  an 
extensive  archipelago,  which  islands  were  sep- 
arated from  each  other  by  numerous  channels 
or  straits,  such  as  are  common  in  the  geog- 
raphy of  the  world. 

These  islands  lie,  and  were  then  known  to 
lie,  between  the  eastern  shore  of  Vancouver's 
Island  and  tiie  western  shore  of  the  continent, 
which  two  shores  are  upon  an  average  about 
fifty  miles  apart,  and  the  channels  are  of  course 
as  numerous  as  the  islands.  Looking  from 
the  north,  and  following  down  through  these 
numerous  channels,  they  all  seem  to  converge 
and  unite  in  the  straits  of  Fuca,  which  lead 
from  the  north,  seeming  to  drain  the  various 
channels  out  around  the  southern  cape  of  Van- 
couver's Island  into  the  Pacific  ocean,  drawing 
the  waters,  so  to  speak,  from  latitude  49°  north, 
southwardly,  and  then  westwardly  around  the 
south  cape  of  Vancouver  into  the  open  sea 
through  those  straits. 

The  lirst  article  prescribes  that  that  "chan- 
nel" shall  be  followed  "which  separates  the 
continent  from  Vancouver's  Island." 

Why  was  this  expression  used?  The  Brit- 
ish Government  had  all  along  through  this 
negotiation  claimed  not  only  the  whole  of  this 
archipelago,  but  also  the  whole  region  of 
country  to  the  south  of  it  and  north  of  the 
Columbia  river. 

On  this  point  the  correspondence  is  perfectly 
conclusive. 

Why  did  Lord  Aberdeen  say  the  "middle 
of  the  channel  which  separates  the  continent 


from  Vancouver's  Islpnd?"  What  other  mo- 
tive could  he  have  had  but  to  reassert  and 
keep  up  the  claim  to  the  whole  of  Vancouver's 
Inland?  This  was  plainly  his  sole  object.  He 
could  not  have  intended  to  claim  another 
island  in  that  archipelago,  or  any  channel 
which  would  have  given  him  San  .luan  or  any 
other  of  those  islands  lying  east  of  the  middle 
of  the  ciiannel  which  gave  him  Vancouver, 
because  if  such  had  been  his  iiilemion,  he 
would  have  used  an  expression  different  from 
the  one  he  employed  ;  he  would  have  said  the 
channel  which  separates  such  and  such  islands 
between  the  two  shores  from  the  continent. 
Instead  of  this,  he  designates  solely  the  cham- 
nel  which  separates  the  continent  from  Van- 
coiTver.  Vancouver  was  the  sole  object  to  be 
segregated  from  the  territory  his  Government 
had  up  t->  that  moment  claimed.  This  was 
p'ainly  his  sole  object. 

If  his  object  had  been  different,  if  it  included 
other  islands  than  Vancouver  and  its  proper 
appiMidages,  he  would  have  used  different  lan- 
guage; but  his  designation  of  Vancouver  as  a, 
part  of  the  disputed  territory  to  be  left  ex- 
pressly in  the  possession  of  Great  Britain  is  a 
perfectly  clear  concession  to  the  United  States 
of  all  other  islands  belonging  to  that  archi- 
pelago, and  lying  between  the  continent  and 
Vancouver. 

The  channel  here  mentioned  is  the  one 
which  "separates  the  continent  from  Vancou- 
ver." The  great  object  is  to  keep  Vancouver, 
and  to  exclude  it  from  the  concession  about  to 
be  made  to  the  United  States.  No  other  chan- 
nel but  that  of  De  Haro  can  with  any  propriety 
be  said  to  do  this.  No  channel  lying  east  of 
it  and  east  of  other  islands  can  be  said  to  sep- 
arate the  continent  from  Vancouver.  The 
language  would  be  wholly  inappropriate.  The 
channel  next  east  of  San  Juan  is  "  President's 
passage;"  next  east  of  which  is  a  group  of 
half  a  dozen  islands  irregularly  located;  and 
next  east  of  these  is  Rosario  strait,  so  called^ 
running  round  east  of  that  group,  forming  a 
sort  of  semicircle,  commencing  at  the  north, 
where  it  forms  a  part  of  the  Gulf  of  Georgia, 
and  stretching  around  near  to  the  mainland 
to  the  straits  of  Fuca,  but  containing  many 
small  islands  within  itself,  and  leaving  still 
more  islands  between  its  eastern  rim  and  the 
mainland,  or  continent  proper.  To  speak  of 
this  liosario  strait  as  separating  the  conti- 
nent from  Vancouver's  Island  is  equally  ab- 
surd ;  for  precisely  the  same  thing  may  be 
said  of  half  a  dozen  other  channels  among  the 
numerous  islands.      * 

The  treaty  channel  has  a  "  middle,"  and  is 
connected  expressly  and  by  direct  terms  in  the 
article  with  Fuca  straits  and  the  Pacific  ocean. 
The  language  is,  "the  middle  of  said  channel 
and  of  Fuca  straits;"  showing  that  this  "mid- 
dle" is  one  line,  though  running  through  two 
geographical  water  communications,  the  de- 


fiJ 


l^i!'-' 


m 


mi-- 


6 


I  A 


FCPipHon  of  tliat  line,  owing  to  its  pofiition, 

rtniiiriiig  two  forniH  of  rxpreHaion. 

hie  po88t!HHi()n  oi'  V^iiicouver  hnd  been  a 
fiulijeet  of  iiof^otiiition  between  the  two  Powers 
for  Homo  time  ;  but  it  is  to  be  observed  llmtno 
otiier  iHJand  east  of  it  iiiid  ixsen  a  subject  of 
controversy  or  negotiation  at  all ;  indeed  not 
one  word  iiad  been  said  during  the  wiioie  nego- 
tiation respoelingany  otherisland,  and  it  is  too 
phiin  for  dol)ate,  liaving  reference  to  the  corre- 
spondence and  to  this  article  of  the  treaty,  that 
Vancouver  was  the  sole  and  only  territorial 
l)os.session  to  which  Great  Britain  then  sought 
to  adhere  south  of  the  forty-ninth  degree. 

The  channel, then,  inenlioncd  in  this  article 
must  upon  every  principle  of  interpretation  be 
held  to  be  the  channel  which  s»'parates  and 
segregates  to  Great  Britain  Vancouver's  1'. land, 
i  liis  channel  was  at  that  time  well  known  as 
the  Canal  do  Ilaro,  a  designation  [jerfeclly  well 
known  to  navigators  and  commercial  men,  as 
noted  upon  the  maps  and  c.iartsof  the  i^eriod. 
This  channel  is  but  a  communication  between 
the  Gulf  of  Georgia,  lying  on  the  northeast  side 
of  Vancouver  and  leading  down  south  and 
80\ithwest  into  the  eastern  end  of  the  straits  of 
Fi^ca,  which  lead  out  into  the  ocean. 

That  1  am  correct  in  this  is  demonstrated  by 
the  indui)itable  fact  that  in  Lord  Aberdeen's 
dispatch  to  .Mr.  Pakenliam  of  the  18th  of  May, 
18^1).  transmitting  his  proposed  treaty,  he  says 
I'wif  the  latter  is  authorized — 

"'I'o  i)ri)i)o.sB  as  n  boundary  lino  tho  forty-ninth 
|i;iriill('l  to  the  soa-cmist;  thpiico  in  a. southerly iltrec- 
1  iiiii  tliriiush  tho  center  ot'Kins  (ieorges'B.-'ound  and 
'111'  .sirait.s  of  Fiuni  to  tho  ocean,  thuscivint?  to  Great 
IJritain  the  whole  of  Vancouver's  Inland  and  its 
liiubors." 

I  should  add  here  that  the  fact  of  this  dis- 
patch containing  the  particular  language  here 
recited  having  been  sent  by  Lord  Aberdeen 
is  proved  by  the  statement  contained  in  the 
letter  of  Mr.  Campbell,  the  American  com- 
missioner, to  General  Cass,  Secretary  of  State, 
dated  January  20,  ISo'J,  in  which  the  commis- 
sioi  er  observes  that  in  his  then  recent  per- 
sonal interview  with  Lord  Napier,  the  British 
minister  at  Washington,  the  latter  submitted 
it  to  his  perusal,  though  he  declined  to  furnish 
him  a  copy. 

The  joint  comtaission  carefully  explored  the 
several  channels  in  this  archipelago  and  took 
the  soundings.  While  doing  this  they  acted 
together  and  in  concert.  When,  however,  they 
discove'  ed  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to 
agree,  each  furnished  to  his  Government  a 
map  of  the  fruits  of  theii*operations.  The  one 
furnished  by  our  commissioner,  Mr.  Campbell, 
is  now  before  us  in  Executive  Document  No.  29 
of  the  second  session  of  the  Fortieth  Congress; 
a  documei.tof  the  greatest  importance,  con- 
taining the  latest  expression  of  opinion  by  our 
own  (government  on  this  subject,  particularly 
the  able  and  patriotic  dispatch  of  General 


Cans  to  Mr.  Dalian,  our  minister  to  London, 

of  the  2()th  October,  IH.V.t. 

Now,  by  looking  upon  this  map  it  will  bo 
easily  seen  that  the  straits  of  llaro  unite  the 
Gulf  of  (ieorgia  with  the  straits  of  Fuca, 
through  the  narrow  passage  that  lies  between 
the  liille  promontory  on  the  east  end  of  .lava 
Island,  kiu)wn  as  I'iast  Point,  and  Patos  [slan<l, 
which  is  about  live  miles  diructiy  to  the  (Mist 
of  East  Point.  In  this  narrow  passage  the  water 
is  deeper  than  at  any  spot  north  or  east  of  it, 
and  there  it  is  absorbed  into  and  joins  tho 
straits  of  Hare,  which  grow  deeper  and  deeper 
as  you  pass  down  southwesterly  into  the  straits 
of  Fuca,  the  depth  in  this  narrow  passage  being 
from  one  hundred  and  five  to  one  hundred  and 
I'fieon  fathoms.  The  head  of  llosariostrnits,  or 
as  anc'ently  known  Vancouver's  straits  or  chan- 
nel, i:i  properly  and  geogrii|iiiiciiiiy  directly 
east  of  this  narrow  passage;  and  the  fact  is  an 
im))ortant  one  for  the  ascerlainmeui  of  the 
true  chinnel  called  for  by  the  treaty,  that  at 
this  hei.d  of  Uosario  straits  tiie  water  is  only 
eighty  eight  or  ninety  fathoms  deep,  iindgiows 
more  and  more  shoal  southwardly  from  that 
point  and  very  soon  dwindles  to  a  depth  of  only 
sixty  and  fifty.  This  shows  that  the  nniin  ehsin- 
iiel  is  tliat  which  passes  from  the  (iuif  of  Geor- 
gia through  that  narrow  passage  into  llaro 
straits,  leaving  San  Juan  to  the  east  of  it. 

Again,  the  dei)lii  of  water  in  fathoms,  accord- 
ing to  actual  soundings,  from  the  point  where 
the  British  or  Uosario  line  of  channel  (Mils  iIh; 
forty-ninth  degree  of  latitude,  southeasii'ily 
along  thailini?  to  a  point  directly  east  of  Pains 
Island,  is  as  follows:  118,  102,  82,  (iO,  71,  72, 
80,  llo,  105,  IIG,  107,  90,  9(3,  100,  97,  87,  87, 
99 ;  which  give  an  average  depth  along  this  pnn 
of  the  Uosario  line  of  ninety-three  fathoms. 

But  the  depth  of  water,  according  to  Hlte 
soundings,  from  the  point  where  the  forty-ninth 
degree  cuts  the  line  of  deepest  channel  in  the 
Gulf  of  Georgia,  (which  point  is  about  five 
miles  west  from  where  the  Uosario  line  cuts 
the  parallel  of  forty-nine  degrees,)  down  to  the 
east  and  west  line,  passing  from  East  Point 
across  to  Patos  Island,  is  as  follows :  187,  108, 
148,  133,  112,  100,  10(),  94,  87,  11(5,  99,  108, 
108,  108,  129,  11.5,  105,  110,  which  gives  an 
average  depth  to  the  American  line,  lying  as  it 
does  about  five  miles  from  the  Uosario  line, 
of  one  hundred  and  eighteen  fathoms,  the 
difference  between  the  depth  of  this  line  and 
the  Uosario  line  being  twenty- five  fathoms  on 
an  average  in  our  favor.  This  greater  depth 
of  the  American  line,  following  as  it  does  the 
bottom  of  the  main  channel,  proves  beyond  ail 
rational  dispute  that  the  American  line,  from 
its  northern  point  down  to  the  center  of  this 
narrow  channel,  is  the  "middle  of  the  chan- 
nel "  referred  to  in  the  treaty. 

It  is  not  only  deeper  than  the  Uosario  chan- 
nel by  twenty-five  fathoms,  but  it  is  the  deepest 
channel  in  the  whole  of  the  archipelago  except 


iho  canul  Du  Iliiro,  with  which  it.  unites  by 
niiiiiis  of  this  narrow  I'liiiiitu-i. 

Now,  l(!t  us  I'ompartMlio  di'pth  of  tiie  reraain- 
mn  portion  of  iho  ilonario  iiiio,  coininoiicinp; 
niHt.  of  J'litos  iNJiuid  with  that  of  iho  strait  L)e 
Hiiro,  rimiiiiiK  Iroin  tiie  sanie  narrow  channel 
liowii  rouTiil  th(!  west  sido  of  San  Juan  and 
bHlwpcn  it  and  V^unoouver's  into  the  straits  of 
Fiicii.  to  a  purallt'l  of  latitudo  which  gives  us 
Hull  .luau  with  otli<>r  isliinds  of  tiie  arcliipel- 
ago,  and  on  wiiicli  parallel  the  canal  de  llaro 
iviid  the  Uosario  straits  meet  and  form  the 
straits  of  Fiiea.  I  say  let  us  (  onuiare  the 
depth  of  water  on  these  two  competing  lines 
of  channel 

We  havi;  the;  following  results :  the  sound- 
ings along  liie  American  or  De  llaro  line  are 
as'follow'i:  «..  84,  87,  it4,  100.  ii(j,  l'J3,  98, 
118,  1'2U,  ;.),  '.;!,  8;'),  70,  815,  lO.j,  182,  170  105, 
100,  121,  14:5,  178.  04,  li:J,  \TA,  '.)->,  10!!,  120, 
'jl,  ir,7,  140.  !"»"),  141.  140,  Kif),  150,  15!i,  95, 
122,  110.  8').  100,  07,  115,  80,100,  02,  07,  75, 
90,  07.  108.  80,  2!t,  01,  OO,  07;  presenting  an 
average  depth  on  tl-is  De  Haro  line  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  and  a  half  fathoms. 

On  the  Kosario  line  we  have  the  following 
soundings:  80,  82,  74,  00,  70,  03,  04,  50,  57, 
34,  34,  47,  53.  52,  53,  40,  4G,  40,  40,  00,  30, 
41,  50,  45.  64,  20,  30,  34,  29,  34,  25,  29,  38, 
60,  37,  65,  25,  GO,  21,  53,  23,  20,  42,  80,  28, 
43,  48,  60,  38,  42,  36,  40,  40,  44,  43,  40 ;  pre- 
senting an  average  de^th  on  the  Uosario  line 
of  sixty-five  and  a  halt  fathoms,  the  difiFerence 
in  favor  of  the  De  Haro  channel  being  fifty-five 
fathoms  'or  a  distance  of  about  fifty  miles  on 
each  line,  or,  to  speak  more  intelligibly,  from 
the  southeast  end  of  the  Gulf  of  Georgia  to  the 
head  of  the  straits  of  Fuca,  so  that  along  the 
northern  portion  of  these  two  line*  there  are 
twenty  five  fathoms  of  water  in  our  favor,  and 
on  the  southern  portion  fifty  five  fathoms. 

I  have  said  there  are  various  channels  pass- 
ing among  these  islands  between  the  line  of 
De  Haro  and  that  of  Uosario,  one  of  which, 
running  on  the  east  side  of  San  Juan  Island, 
known  as  President's  passage,  was  proposed 
by  the  British  commissioner  to  the  American 
commissioner  as  a  comprotnise  between  the 
De  Haro  and  the  Uosario  lines. 

This  compromise  line  was  very  properly  re- 
jected by  the  American  commissioner.  It  has 
none  of  the  features  of  "the  channel"  men- 
tioned in  the  treaty.  Its  average  depth  falls 
short  even  of  the  Uosario  channel,  and  it  is 
evident  that  the  offer  was  a  mere  makeshift 
on  the  part  of  the  British  commissioner  to 
grasp  San  Juan  Island. 

It  is  indubitable,  for  it  is  expressed  in  the 
first  article  of  the  treaty  in  clear  terms,  that 
the  boundary  "  shall  be  continued  westward 
along  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude 
to  the  middle  of  the  channel,"  &c. 

Here,  in  the  clearest  language,  the  treaty 
recognizes  a  channel  "in  the  middle"  of  wwich 


this  forty-ninth  degree  boundary  is  to  terminate. 
And  from  this  point  of  intersection  the  bound- 
ary is  to  be  detlected,  and  is  to  run  "  through 
the  middle  of  said  channel  and  of  Fuca  straits 
to  the  Pacific  ocean." 

This  language  implies,  as  I  have  remarked, 
that  "the  channel"  iind  "  Fuca  straits"  form 
one  continuous  water-course  from  the  point  of 
beginning  on  the  forty-ninth  degree  around 
into  the  ocean  ;  and  this  language  was  per- 
fectly consi:''t  •'  with  the  notorious  fact,  well 
understood  by  i  wigators  and  geographers, 
that  there  was  t..v  ictly  such  a  channel. 

The  iiegotictois  of  the  treaty  on  both  sides 
well  undf-Hood  this,  and  no  '<isputo  or  denial 
of  its  e;  '•  eiice  ever  arose  ;  and  it  was  equally 
well  known  that  X'ttnoji.ver's  Island  lay  to  the 
west  of  this  water- course.  The  first  article 
recognizes  t!  is  Liiannel  and  strait  us  such 
water  cour.se,  forit  provides  in  express  terms — 

"That  'ho  navipriition  of  tho  whole  of  L.t'.a  chan- 
nrl  iin<l  ptniits  soulli  of  tlin  forty-ninth  deitroo  of 
nortli  latitudo  ahull  rcmuiu  freo  and  open  to  both 
parties." 

Here,  then,  is  the  watercourse  described  in 
the  first  article  as  the  channel  "through  the 
middle  of  which  and  of  Fuca  straits"  the 
boundary  runs  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  I  say 
the  middle  of  the  channel  and  the  middle  of 
Fuca  straits,  that  channel  and  those  straits 
being  contemplated  as  one  and  the  same  con- 
tinuous water-course,  and  having,  in  the  words 
of  the  treaty,  a  "middle;"  that  is,  a  line  or 
filum  in  the  "middle"  of  the  water-course. 

This  "middle"  is  the  boundary  as  estab- 
lished by  the  treaty. 

Now,  what  is  the  "  middle"  of  a  stream  or 
water-course,  used  as  a  boundary  between 
nations,  in  the  sense  of  the  law  of  nations? 

I  do  not  refer  to  the  rule  of  the  English 
common  law  touching  riparian  rights  where 
lands  are  bounded  on  a  stream  not  navigable. 
In  such  cases  the  grant  extends  to  the  middle 
of  the  stream.  Each  opposite  owner  holds 
the  bed  of  the  river  to  the  middle  of  the  bed ; 
that  is,  to  a  line  running  along  on  the  bottom 
and  corresponding  exactly  with  a  surface  line 
on  the  water  equidistant,  or  equidistant  upon 
an  average,  from  the  respective  shores  ;  this 
surface  line  cutting  in  two  all  the  islands  that 
lie  on  it  and  giving  moities  of  them  to  the 
opposite  p.oprietors  or  grantees.  This  prin- 
ciple of  the  common  law,  sound  in  itself  but 
having  relation  only  to  the  interests  of  private 
parties,  is  inapplicable  to  the  water  bounda- 
ries of  nations.  The  principle,  it  is  to  be 
observed,  applies,  a^  the  English  books  all 
say,  only  to  grants  of  land  bounded  "  on  a 
river,"  or  "  by  a  river,"  or  "on"  or  "along" 
the  "  shore,"  or  "  bank,"  or  "  margin  "  of  a 
"  river  or  stream."  No  such  descriptive 
words  are  used  in  the  treaty.  Between  the 
mainland  of  the  continent  and  that  of  Van- 
couver the  whole  space  is  covered  with  water, 


m-^ 


m  1 


l"ly 


■  -,     ''.A 


n 


! 


except  as  its  surface  is  pierced  by  islands; 
and  if  the  treaty  is  to  be  interpreted  and  ap- 
plied according  to  the  narrow  rule  of  the  com- 
mon law,  (hen  the  line  of  boundary  must  be 
"  averaged  ;"  that  is,  must  be  drawn  from  the 
middle  of  the  water  space  on  the  forty-ninth 
parallel  southwardly  literally  through  the 
center  of  this  whole  sheet  of  water  between 
the  two  main  shores  to  the  middle  of  Fuca 
straits,  bisecting  several  '.stands,  and  among 
them,  in  all  probability,  Sfu  Juan  itself,  and 
giving  parcels  of  each  to  the  contesting  parties. 

Such  a  mangling  of  the  islands  and  islets 
would  indeed  be  ludicrous;  so  ludicrous  that  it 
has  never  been  at  all  suggested  by  the  greedi- 
er., advocate  of  the  British  claim.  Nobody  has 
'nought  of  applying  the  common  law  rule  of 
private  riparian  proprietorship  to  these  islands. 
Even  Governor  Douglas,  of  British  Columbia, 
the  originator  of  the  claim  to  San  Juan,  has 
maintained  a  discreet  silence  in  this  regard. 

Again,  Great  Britain  is  already  by  her  own 
former  acts  estopped  and  concluded  from 
asserting  that  this  middle  surface-line  through 
the  archipelago  is  the  true  line.  By  the  treaty 
of  1783,  fixing  the  first  boundaries  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  the  water- 
line  on  our  northern  frontier  .uns  expressly  to 
"the  middle  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence  ;  thence 
along  the  middle  of  said  river  to  Lake  Ontario; 
thence  along  the  middle  of  the  said  lake  to  the 
water  comniimication  between  that  lake  and 
Lake  Erie  ;  thence  through  the  middle  of  said 
liike  to  the  water  ccminunication  between  it 
and  Lake  St.  Clair;  {i.  e.  through  the  middle 
of  the  Detroit  river,  which  has  numerous 
islands;)  thence  through  the  middle  of  Lake 
.St.  Clair  to  tiie  water  communication  between 
it  and  Lake  Huron  ;  thence  through  the  middle 
of  said  laketothe  watercommunicationbetween 
it  and  Lake  Superior;  thence  through  the  mid- 
dle of  Lake  Superior,"  &c. 

Now,  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
respective  Governments  to  survey  and  mark 
this  long  lineCof  water  boundary,  not  less  than 
fifteen  hundred  miles  long,  invariably  and  by 
a  formal  written  agreement  followed,  as  their 
triangulated  maps  now  in  the  Department  of 
State  show,  the  center  line  of  the  surface  of 
the  water  when  that  line  did  not  strike  islands ; 
and  where  it  did  they  followed  the  deepest 
channel,  giving  the  whole  island  to  the  party 
ho'ding  on  the  opposite  or  shallower  side.  A 
striking  instance  of  this  is  found  in  Belle  Isle 
— once  known  as  Hog  Island — nearly  opposite 
Detroit.  The  center  surface-line  would  have 
cut  the  island  in  nearly  equal  parts,  and  yet  the 
boundary  line  was  laid  down  on  the  east  side 
of  it  and  along  the  deeper  and  more  navigable 
channel,  thus  giving  tlie  whole  island  to  the 
United  States.  And  other  similar  instances 
might  be  cited.  So  that  the  commissioners 
acted  no  longer  upon  the  common-law  princi- 
ple of  the  centre  of  the  surface  when  an  island 


was  met  with,  but  abandoned  it  and  followed 
the  thalweg  or  deeper  channel ;  that  is,  they  fol- 
lowed the  gutter  or  lowest  part  of  the  water-bed. 
The  importance  of  this  document  will,  I  know, 
justify  me  in  laying  it  before  the  Senate.  It, 
is  still  on  file  in  the  Department  of  State,  under 
the  hands  of  the  commissioners  of  the  respect- 
ive Governments,  Messrs.  Porter  and  Ogilvy, 
and  reads  as  follows: 

"  1.  The  boundarj'  shall  universally  be  a  water- 
lino,  so  as  never  to  Uivido  an  island. 

"2,  Where  there  are  several  channels  or  passages, 
and  but  one  of  them  navigable,  the  navigable  chan- 
nel shall  indicate  the  line. 

"  3.  Whore  there  are  two  channels,  and  each  affords 
a  good  navigation,  the  line  shall  follow  the  largest 
column  of  water. 

"4.  When  there  arc  more  than  two  channels  the 
line  shall  follow  the  one  nearest  the  center,  provided 
it  leaves  a  good  navigation  to  each  party." 

Both  Governments  adopted  and  acted  upon 
this  principle  underthat  ancient  treaty,  couched 
in  the  same  terms,  meaning  the  same  thing, 
and  neither  party  has  ever  complained  of  this 
time-honored,  practical  interpretation  and  use 
of  these  terms,  nor  attempted  to  depart  from  it 
until  in  18-39  Governor  Douglas  and  the  Hud- 
son Bay  Company  discovered  that  it  would  lose 
them  San  Juan  Island  ;  and  then  they  began  to 
wriggle  about  the  interpretation  of  the  treaty. 
The  doughty  Covernor  acttuilly  brouglit  out  a 
British  fleet  with  two  hundred  and  fifiy  guns 
on  board  to  drive  Captain  Picket,  who  fortun- 
ately was  sent  there  in  the  nick  of  time  by 
General  Harney,  from  this  island.  But  he  did 
not  (i\iite  dare  open  his  broadsides  upon  Picket's 
iiandful  of  men.  The  presence  of  the  spirited 
Harney  seems  to  have  been  a  discouragement,. 

But  again  to  the  point.  Tho  boundary  here 
is  not  declared  to  be  at  or  on  or  along  the  chan- 
nel, or  by  the  channel,  or  by  or  on  the  nmrgin, 
shore,  or  coast  of  the  channel,  but  from  a 
given  point  in  the  middle  of  the  channel,  and 
thence  southerly  through  the  middle  of  said 
channel  and  through  the  middle  of  the  straits 
of  Fuca,  the  line  of  boundary  being  thus  ex- 
pressly defined  instead  of  being  left  to  conjec- 
ture and  to  be  made  out  or  guesstd  out  by 
'"averaging"  the  width  of  the  surface  of  the 
whole  channel,  a  thing  which,  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  case,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
surfnce  is  half  land  and  half  water,  an  inter- 
mixture of  islands  and  channels  anU  .dioals,  it 
was  and  is  utterly  impossible  to  do. 

And  this  was  well  and  perfectly  known  to 
Lord  Aberdeen,  who  proposed  not  only  the 
boundary  but  the  whole  treaty.  Such  a  thing 
as  a  boundary  line  cutting  into  two  equal  por- 
tions the  whole  space  between  the  continent 
proper  and  Vancouver,  land  and  water,  island/ 
and  all,  noTer  occurred  to  him,  because  upon 
Vancouver's  map,  which  Lord  John  Russel' 
says  was  then  before  Lord  Abi^rdeen,  the  Hard 
channel  by  name,  as  well  as  others  not  named, 
was  distinctly  laid  down. 


9 


be  a  water- 


Wliat,  then,  is  the  middle  of  thia  channel, 
and  liow  is  it  to  be  ascertained? 

1  have  shown  that  it  cantiot  be  ascertained 
by  the  common-law  rule  of  running  a  center 
surface -line  through  the  whole  expanse  of 
waters  and  islands  lyingbetween  the  two  shores, 
because  both  Powers  have  construed  differ- 
ently from  that  an  identical  expression  in  the 
treaty  of  1783,  and  because  both  have  all  along 
abstained  from  even'  suggesting  such  a  line,  on 
account  of  the  impossibility  of  bringing  to- 
getiier  the  two  lines,  namely,  the  "middle" 
line  throiigh  the  Gulf  of  Georgia  and  the  mid- 
dle line  through  Fuca  straits,  which  two  lines 
are  by  the  treaty  contemplated  as  forming  but 
one  and  the  same  line,  by  running  into  and 
naturally  utiiting  with  each  other,  which  could 
not  be  unless  the  middle  of  one  channel  was 
geographically  and  in  point  of  fact  the  middle 
of  the  other.  I  say,  for  these  three  reasons: 
tii'st,  because  the  two  Governments  have  not 
applied  the  commo'i-l"w  rule  to  islands  lying 
in  the  center  of  the  water  surface;  second, 
because  both  have  throughout  the  dispute  act- 
ually abstained  from  putting  forth  such  an 
idea  ;  and  third,  that  such  a  line  is  geograph- 
ically inijiossiblp,  having  in  view  the  language 
of  the  treaty,  which  really  makes  the  two  lines 
one,  by  running  the  one  into  the  other,  or,  in 
oilier  words,  welding  them  so  as  to  form  one 
middle  of  the  two  channels,  Georgia  and  De 
Fuca.  In  construing  the  language  the  datum 
given,  the  point  conceded  by  both  parties  by 
ilie  very  language  itself,  and  not  to  be  denied 
(u-  retracted  by  either,  is  that  this  middle  line 
is  tli(!  same  line  and  runs  through  both  chan- 
nels, Georgia  and  Fuca ;  and,  of  course,  that 
in  point  of  fact,  as  admitted  by  both  parties, 
tliey  form  but  one  channel,  having  this  "mid- 
dle." How  then,  I  ask  again,  ia  it  to  be 
ascertained? 

1  have  shown  that  in  reference  to  the  islands 
it  cannot  be  by  the  common-law  rule.  Resort 
must  be  had  to  some  other  to  get  at  the  inten- 
tion of  the  parties. 

llalleck,  one  li'  the  most  careful  thinkers  on 
international  law  that  the  United  States  have 
produced,  says,  (page  138:) 

"But  whore  the  river  not  only  sopnrates  the  con- 
tciiiiinous  iStatcs,  but  also  their  territorial  jurisdic- 
tion, the  ihalwrg,  or  middle  channel,  forms  the  lino 
ot  sonaratioii  lliro'iKli  the  bays  or  estuiirios  through 
wliicii  the  waler,><  of  a  river  flow  into  the  sea.  As  a 
Kiniral  rule  tlii.s  line  runs  through  the  deepest  chan- 
nel, iiltlioui,'h  it  niiiy  divide  the  river  and  its  estu- 
iiiics  into  t-..o  very  uufiiuiil  parts." 

11- tfuer  (section  sixty-six)  says: 

1  "  If  ».  river  separates  two  States  the  dominion  of 
oiicii  e.xtends  to  tho  middle  of  the  river,  sometimes 
'.lie  iyC'd.  called  tlic  lh«/h'eg,  serve*  as  the  boundary, 
M-iVio  iIki/wi:;/  of  the  Ilbine.  This  mode  was  adopted 
ill  :lio  treaty  concluded  in  1809  between  Russia  and 
v^Hi'dcQ." 

i  lie  t/uilu'fiy  is  tlip  "valley  way"  or  lowest 
i;n-i  iif  I  hi'  IkmI  of  the  stream,  the  line  moat 
It'ollowed  by  boatmen  in  going  down  stream. 


Klnber,  speaking  of  the  frontiers  of  the  ter- 
ritories of  a  State,  (section  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three,)  says : 

"  As  to  rivers  and  lakes  as  frontiers  by  which  the 
opposite  banks  are  equally  occupied,  tho  middle, 
comprising  in  this  the  islands  traversed  by  tho  lino 
of  the  middle,  ordinarily  separates  the  territories. 
Instead  of  this  line  nations  have  recently  chosen  for 
frontier  the  thai loeg ,'  that  is  to  say,  the  variable  way 
taken  by  boatmen  when  they  go  down  stream,  or 
rather  tho  middle  of  this  way  or  road." 

The  author  adds  in  a  note : 

"In  the  treaty  concluded  between  the  grand 
duchy  of  Baden  and  the  canton  of  Argovio,  Septem- 
ber 18, 1808,  the  parties  took  for  their  limit  tho  thal- 
weg oi' tho  Rhino,  but  by  this  is  understood  the  deep- 
est places  of  the  river,  and  as  to  tho  bridges  their 
middle." 

Webster  defines  "channel"  as  the  deeper 
part  of  a  strait,  bay,  or  harbor,  where  the  prin- 
cipal current  flows,  either  of  tide  or  fresh  water, 
or  which  is  the  most  convenient  for  the  track 
of  a  ship. 

Worcester  defines  the  word  as  the  bed  of  a 
stream  of  water,  especially  the  deeper  part  of 
a  river  or  bay,  where  the  main  current  flows  ; 
a  strait  or  narrow  sea  between  two  portions  of 
land,  as  the  British  channel. 

Wheaton  says : 

"  Where  a  navigable  river  forms  the  boundary  of 
conterminous  States,  the  middle  of  the  channel,  or 
thalwru,  is  generally  taken  as  the  line  of  .separation 
between  the  two  States,  the  presumption  of  law  being 
that  tho  right  of  navigation  is  common  to  both." 

The  author  here  manifestly  treats  the  ex- 
pressions "  middle  of  I  he  channel"  and  "■  ihal- 
weg"  as  equivalent,  that  is,  the  lowest  bottom 
of  the  channel. 

Thus  it  appears  that  in  its  geographical  and 
hydrographical  sense  the  word  "  channel' '  is  the 
equivalent  of  "  thalweg,^^  with  this  only  differ- 
ence in  popular  use  that  "  thalweg"  implies  a 
downstream  motion,  and  is  therefore  more 
generally  applied  to  rivers  or  flowing  masses  of 
water,  while  "channel"  applies  alike  to  water 
flowing  and  non  -flowing.  When  either  of  these 
terma  relates  to  the  earthy  bed  of  the  river  it 
means  the  lowest  part  or  gutter  of  that  bed. 
Speaking  of  this  bed,  and  on  and  along  this 
bed  is  the  bo\indary  line,  a  child  will  tell  you 
that  the  middle  of  the  -.channel  is  the  deepest 
and  lowest  portion  of  the  passage  "channeled" 
out  through  the  earth.  "  Through  the  middle 
of  the  channel"  means,  in  the  popular  under- 
standing, through  the  lowest  bottom  of  the 
apace  liollowed  out,  whether  on  land  lying 
under  water  or  not,  because  tlie  mind  at  once 
measures  the  depth  of  the  channel  by,  so  to 
speak,  a  vertical  radius  or  diameter  in  order 
to  estimate  the  size  and  capacity  of  the  chan- 
nel. 

The  true  boundary,  then,  according  to  the 
text  of  the  treaty,  is  this  line  running  from 
where  the  forty-ninth  parallel  strikes  the  lino 
of  deepest  water  in  the  whole  channel,  thence 
aouthwardlyalongthisdeepestlinein  the  straits 
of  Georgia  and  the  line  of  deepest  water  through 


jo'.tv  Mi 


m 

'feKiJ 


■:/»{■ 


-'1  !>t'i 


!.ii!u 


';!  i' 


mm 


maummiam 


\  I 


10 


!^i 


the  straits  of  Haro  to  those  of  Fiica,  into  the 
ocean.  This  line  is  easily  found.  It  lias  lu'en 
ascertained  by  actual  surveys  and  soundings 
executed  by  the  joint  commission  of  the  two 
Governments.  It  gives  the  United  States  San 
Juan  Island,  the  most  valuable  in  the  group, 
both  in  reference  to  navigation  and  military 
defense.  The  description  in  the  treaty  itself 
settles  the  question  ;  the  line  has  been  ascer- 
tained in  perfect  accordance  with  the  terms  of 
the  treaty,  giving  those  terms  the  meaning  and 
effect  required  by  the;  law  of  nations  ancl  the 
action  and  consent  of  the  British  Government 
itself  under  precisely  like  circumstances  on  the 
river  and  lake  Crontiin-  described  by  the  treaty 
of  178;5.  Why  arbitrate  when  your  legal  rights 
are  clear  and  induldtable?  Were  it  a  doubtful 
question  in  fact.  thf»re  might  be  propriety  in 
settling  it  by  arbitration,  (or  a  submission  to 
arbitration  always  iin|)lies  ^ime  doubt  of  the 
legality  of  your  cliiira,  and  is,  in  ninety-nine 
cases  out  of  a  hundred,  practically  an  invita- 
tion to  split  the  difference  between  the  parties. 
But  in  this  case  there  is  so  little  uncertainty, 
such  anai)sence  of  all  ground  of  doubt,  that  it 
seems  ridiculous  for  us  to  undergo  the  humil- 
iation of  putting  our  rights  and  interests  to 
hazard.  The  step  will  inevitably  lose  us  San 
Juan.  I  predict  it  here.  The  British  Govern- 
ment have  set  their  heart  upon  this  island. 
There  has  been  already  as  much  contest,  trou- 
ble, and  negotiation  about  it  as  there  was  about 
the  northeastern  boundary.  On  each  side  the 
sword  has  been  sharpened  for  the  final  contest; 
and  no  longer  ago  than  August.  1859,  Lord 
John  Russell  announced  to  our  Government 
in  a  solemn  d'spatch  to  Lord  Lyons,  tho  resi- 
dent British  minister  here,  that — 

"  llor  Majosty's  Government  must,  under  any  cir- 
cumstiincoa,  innintiiin  tho  rigtitof'tlio  BritishCrown 
to  tbe  island  of  .San  Juan.  The  interest.'!  at  stake  in 
sonnectiou  with  tho  rotention  of  that  island  are  too 
important  to  admit  of  compromise." 

And  adds  these  haughty  terms : 

"And  your  lordship  will  consequently  bear  in 
mind  that  whatever  arrangement  of  the  boundary 
line  is  finally  arrived  at,  no  settlement  of  tho  ques- 
tion will  1)0  accepted  l)V  hor  Majesty's  Government 
which  does  not  provide  for  the  island  of  San  Juau 
being  reserved  to  tho  iiriJsh  Crown." 

Is  not  this  a  sufficient  intimation  of  the  pur- 
po'^e  of  England  and  ofthe  value  of  the  island? 
JSo  settlement  will  be  accepted  which  does  not 
give  i.er  that  island  !  It  is  her  sine  qua  non; 
and  this,  notwithstanding  Lord  Aberdeen,  his 
predecessor,  had  in  the  very  dispatch  (of  May 
18,  1840)  which  carried  to  Washington  liis 
proposal  that  al'ierward  became  the  treaty, 
expressly  renounced  all  the  islands  excejit 
only  Vancouver.  The  language  of  this  dis- 
patch is : 

"Thii  I'orty-ninth  parallel  to  the  sea-coast,  thence 
ill  ;i  Miutlidly  (liruclioii  tliroiigh  ilio  oeiiter  ol  Kinft 
(Ji'iuifii's  .luuiid  ;iiid  tiie  straits  (jf  t'ticii  to  tho  ocean; 
thuj  KiviiiK  to  Great  lirituiii  the  whole  of  Vuucou- 
vei's  Island  and  its  harbors.  " 


And  notwithstanding  Lord  Aberdeen  had  in 
conversation  with  our  minister,  Mr.  McLane, 
only  three  days  before,  assured  him  that  his 
proposal  of  a  treaty  would  run  the  line  through 
the  '"canal  Dellaro  and  straits  of  Fuca,"  thus 
in  express  words  adopting  the  De  Haro  chan- 
nel for  which  we  now  contend,  and  which  I 
have  shown  to  be  tho  legal  boundary  called  for 
by  the  treaty. 

Are  we  now,  with  such  facts  before  us  ;  with 
the  contemporary  admissions  and  statements 
of  the  party  proposing  the  treaty,  the  party 
against  whom  in  law  and  in  morals  it  is  to  be 
moststrongly  taken;  with  the  treaty  itself  calling 
for  that  line ;  with  the  declaration  that  that  line 
ran  through  the  Haro  channel ;  with  the  ad- 
mission that  "Vancouver  and  its  harbors"  were 
all  that  the  proposer  soii,<;ht  to  retain — are  we 
to  be  told  now  that  the  L)e  ilaro  line  was  not 
intended ;  that  no  arriingemont  is  to  be  ac- 
cepted wliicli  does  not  give  San  Juan  to  the 
proposer  of  the  treaty?  Are  we  to  be  tlins 
cajoled  and  then  coaxed  into  an  arbitration? 
Sir,  the  honor  of  this  nation  forbids  it.  Let 
us  not  fall  into  such  a  snare. 

I  am  aware  that  this  peremptory  language 
of  Lord  John  Russell  in  his  dispatch  of  August 
24,  1859,  was  alterward  tiie  subject  of  discus- 
sion between  the  two  Governments.  Its  eft'ect 
upon  the  American  Secretary  of  State,  Gen- 
eral Cass,  was  to  incline  him  to  break  off  the 
negotiation  ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  observe  the 
diplomatic  machinery,  not  to  say  artifice,  useti 
to  keep  it  on  foot  and  to  avoid  an  armed  col- 
lision. 

Lord  Russell,  in  his  dispatch  to  Lord  Lyons 
of  that  date,  expresses  the  purpose  of  his  Gov- 
ernment in  distinct  and  unequivocal  terms. 
Giving  his  language  its  obvious,  I  should  per- 
haps say  its  only  construction.  General  Cass, 
in  his  dispatch  to  Mr.  Dallas,  our  minister  to 
England,  ofthe  20th  of  October,  says: 

"If  this  declaration  is  to  be  insisted  upon, it  mii?t 
terminate  tho  negotiation  at  its  very  threshold, 
because  this  Government  can  permit  itself  to  outer 
into  no  dLicussion  with  that  of  Groat  Britain  or  any 
other  Power  except  upon  terms  of  perfect  equality. 
And  when  her  Majesty's  Government  declares  that 
it  will  ncvor  yield  its  right  to  tho  island  of  San  .Juan, 
this  Government  has  only  to  declare  a  similar  do- 
termination  on  the  part  of  the  UnitediStiites,  in  ordtr 
to  render  any  further  discussion  of  the  subject  en- 
tirely fruitless." 

On  receiving  a  copy  of  this  dispatch,  Lord 
Rusr-.ell  seems  put  to  his  wits  for  an  expliuia- 
tion.  In  his  dispatch  to  Lord  Lyons,  ofihe  21Hli 
November,  he  says: 

"That  declaration,  which  was  to  the  effect  that 
no  settlement  of  tho  question  will  bo  accepted  by 
her  Majesty's  (Jovcrnment  which  does  not  proviiK- 
for  tho  island  of  San  Juan  beinK  reserved  to  llio 
British  Crown,  appears  to  have  Riven  rise  to  snnif 
misconception.  When  the  iiicaiiiiiK  of  a  treaty  is,  iii 
the  opiniiiii  of  one  of  tin-  pariie>i,  ,.|piirly  in  favor 'il 
the  interpretation  it  has  ailnplcil.  hut  tho  inlcrofi* 
at  stnke  ;Lre  iiniin|)ortant.  the  iidiiit  in  dispute  iii:>> 
be  wiiliiiiily  yielded  lor  the  siike  of  peace  and  B"|"i 
nciuhbnrliood;  but  when  the  iiieaninKis,  in  theopiii- 


llM 


11 


leen  had  in 
Ir.  McLane, 
iin  that  liis 
line  through 
FiiCH,"  thus 
Ilaro  chaii- 
ind  which  I 
iry  culled  for 


ore  us ; 


with 


i  statements 
ty,  the  party 
lis  it  is  to  be 
Mtselfcalliiig 
that  that  line 
with  the  ad- 
arbors"  were 
itain — are  we 
I  line  was  not 

is  to  be  ac- 
1  Juan  to  the 
e  to   be  thus 

arbitration? 
•bids  it.     Let 

;ory  language 
tch  ofAuguit 
ect  of  discus- 
its.  Its  eft'oet 
)f  State,  Gen- 
break  off  the 
to  observe  the 
I  artifice,  used 
m  armed  col- 

,0  Lord  Lyons 
)seof  his  Gov- 

ivocal  lerni3. 

I  should  per- 
General  Cass, 
ur  minister  to 
says : 

A  upon, it  must 
vory  thrpshiild. 
it  itself  to  euur 
t  Uritain  or  iiiiy 
(orlect  equality, 
lit  declares  tliiU 
11(1  of  San  .Jutin. 
ro  a  similar  do- 
JSliite?,  in  order 
the  subject  en- 

lispatch,  Lord 
K  an  explana- 
3IIS,  of  the  'iliili 

the  effect  that 

bo  necetitcd  by 

009  not  proviilf 

reserved  to  llif 

^011  rise  to  soiiii' 

of  a  treaty  is,  ii| 

p;irly  in  favor  "I 

lit  the  iulcros,< 

ill  dispuli-  III  i; 

peace  and  g"'"' 

IK  is,  in  the  opin- 


ion of  ono  of  the  parties,  clearly  in  their  favor,  and 
the  interests  at  stalie  are  at  tlie  same  time  highly 
important,  a  concession  which  would  involve  both 
on  evidcntright  and  avaluableintcrestcould  hardly 
bo  expected.  Such  was  the  sense  in  which  I  wrote 
that  wo  could  not  accept  a  settlement  which  would 
deprive  the  British  Crown  of  the  island  of  San  Juan." 

So  that  his  former  declaration  that  his  Gov- 
ernment would  accept  of  no  compromise  and 
no  settlement,  under  any  circumstances,  that 
should  not  give  it  that  island,  is  made  to  stand 
as  amere  appreciation,  an  estimate  of  the  great 
value  of  the  island  ;  but  in  his  dispatch  he  is 
careful  not  to  retract  his  former  language,  nor 
to  vary  its  obvious  and  unmistakable  meaning 
and  intention. 

Again,  in  his  subsequent  dispatch  to  Lord 
Lyons  of  the  Kith  of  December,  he  repeats 
that— 

"  Ilcr  Majesty's  Government  were  merely  insist- 
inKupon  the  retention  of  an  island  which,  from  the 
poouli.irity  of  its  situation,  it  was  impossible  for  her 
Miijcsty'sOovcniinont  to  cede  without  compromising 
interests  of  the  gravest  importance." 

On  receving  thi^  dispatch,  General  Cass  was 
still  iinsatislied  to  go  on  with  the  negotiation. 
In  his  dispatch  to  Mr.  Dallas  of  the  4th  Feb- 
ruary, 18(10,  he  says  : 

"  But  I  am  prevented  from  pursuiuB  theseconsider- 
ations,  because,  as  I  have  already  slated,  the  discus- 
sion hiis  liecn  piacticiilly  foreclosed  by  the  declara- 
tion of  liord  John  Russell,  tliat  it  can,  under  no 
circumstances,  affect  the  British  claim." 

Thus  the  dilemma  produced  by  Lord  John 
Russell's  peremptory  declaration  still  remained. 
In  liisdispatch  to  Ijord  Lyonsof  March  '.),  1800, 
speaking  of  it,  he  says: 

"That  explanation  was  offered  by  her  Majesty's 
Govcniuiciit  in  all  sincerity  and  candor,  and  your 
liTil'liip  will,  I  doubt  not, share  the  disappointment 
of  her  Majesty's  (Jovernincnt  that  it  has  not  been 
aceepteil  as  satisfactory.  I  can  only  now  repeat, 
and  your  lordship  will  earnestly  impress  this  upon 
(icneral  C.iss,  that  the  United  States  (Government 
hiis  entirely  misconceived  the  purport  of  my  declar- 
ation." 

And  this  diplomatic  mensonge,  this  averment 
that  General  Cass  had  "misconceived"  the 
import  of  a  statement  made  in  plain  English, 
which  every  plow-boy  and  every  milk-maid  in 
the  land  unacrstands  at  once,  is  accepted  as 
such  a  retraction  of  the  offensive  expression, 
Huch  a  retreat  from  the  aggressive  position  of 
Great  Britain  on  this  question,  that  the  business 
of  negotiation  again  proceeds.  Our  Secretary, 
in  his  dispatch  to  Mr.  Dallas  of  April  23,  ac- 
cepts it — for  he  could  do  no  less — as  a  state- 
ment tiiat  the  declaration  of  August  2-t  was 
"not  intended  to  convey  the  meaning  which 
tills  Government  had  attached  to  it." 

But  that  such  an  intention  did  e.\ist,  and  was 
plainly  expressed  in  that  declaration,  no  one 
can  t'ora  moment  dotibt;  that  it  was  not  miscon- 
ceived by  our  Go''M'nniont,  is  equally  certain. 
And  even  if  lef'  ■  stand  upon  Lord  Uusscll's 
exiihiiiation  of  November  '2'.),  the  purpose  of 
lliu  British  Government  is  not  less  clear.     It 


is  expressed  in  language  almost  as  peremptory. 
It  is  that — 

"A  concession  which  involves  both  an  evident 
riglit  and  a  valuable  interest  can  hardly  be  expected." 

But  the  door  being  thus  opened.  General 
Cass,  in  his  note  to  Lord  Lyons  of  June  25, 
18G0,  expressed  his  readiness —  , 

"To  receive  and  fairly  consider  any  proposition 
which  the  British  Government  may  be  disposed  to 
make  for  a  mutually  acceptable  adjustment,  with 
an  earnest  hope  that  a  satisfactory  arrangement  will 
speedily  put  an  end  to  all  danger  of  the  recurrence 
of  those  grave  questions  which  have  more  than  onco 
threatened  to  interrupt  the  good  understanding 
which  both  countries  baveso  many  powerful  motives 
to  maintain." 

Meanwhile  the  joint  military  occupation  of 
San  Juan,  agreed  to  by  General  Scott  in  1859, 
was  recognized  by  both  the  Governments ;  an 
arrangement  which,  not  resting  upon  any  law 
or  constitutional  provision,  has  been  and  still 
is  resisted  by  the  civil  authorities  of  Washing- 
ton Territory,  who  are  in  turn  punished,  or 
sought  to  be  punished,  for  tempting  to  exe- 
cute the  laws  of  the  Territc  y,  by  the  military 
authorities  of  their  own  country,  who  in  i.iirl.' 
tnrn  are  again  held  amenable  to  the  civil 
authorities  of  the  same  country,  jiresenting,  as 
Miijor  General  Haileck  says,  in  his  letter  of 
November  18, 18tJ7,  '"an  anomalous  condition 
of  affairs  on  that  frontier." 

But  the  negotiation  respecting  San  Juan  and 
the  water  boundary  took  another  step,  in  tiie 
form  of  a  letter  from  Lord  Lyons  to  General 
Cass,  of  December  10,  ISCa  ,  proposing  an 
arbitration,  and,  curious  enough,  naming  the 
king  of  the  Netherlands,  the  king  of  Sweden, 
and  the  president  of  the  Federal  Council  of 
Switzerland  as  the  persons  from  whom  the 
arbiter  should  be  selected. 

I  am  not  aware  that  this  letter  was  ever 
answered,  except  by  selecting  the  president  of 
that  C-^uncil,  as  Secretary  Seward  did  in  the 
concocii  n  of  this  treaty.  Strange  to  say, 
he  passed  by  our  old  friends  the  emperor  of 
Russia,  the  king  of  Prussia,  the  emperor  of 
Brazil,  the  president  of  the  republic  of  Mex- 
ico, (a  very  able  and  competent  man,)  and  pro- 
posed no  name  himself  in  this  serious  matter 
involving  the  limits  of  the  Ilepublioas  well  as 
commercial  interests  of  great  magnitude. 

Mr.  President,  I  confess  I  am  not  strongly 
attached  to  the  policy  of  settling  by  arbitra- 
tion any  question  arising  out  of  the  foreign 
relations  of  the  United  States,  and  would  not 
encourage  it.  I  do  not  think  that  in  the  long 
run  that  mode  of  composing  differences  will 
be  found  conducive  to  our  harmony  with  other 
nations  or  to  the  confidence  of  our  own  people 
in  their  Government.  In  both  cases  the  best 
arbitrator  of  our  claims  is  found  in  that  culti- 
vated and  well-observed  sense  of  justice  whicii 
has  hitherto  marked  and  ought  ever  to  mark 
our  course;  in  that  disposition  to  do  right  so 
eloquentlyinculcatediw  VVashington's  Farewell 


mi 

t!V-  t 

yiM", 

'.I 

ffllk 
■■■#. 

It'  f,}h 


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12 


i  !■' 


I 


1:'^: 


Address — iv  justice  that  inspires  respect  at 
home  and  abroad ;  and  in  our  power  us  a  Gov- 
ernment to  redress  national  wrongs. 

Such  a  policy  inevitably  tends  to  impair  that 
high  sense  of  honor  and  of  national  respoiic^i- 
bility  before  the  world  for  acts  done  to  us  and 
of  acts  done  by  us,  without  which  we  should 
soon  lose  our  standing  in  the  family  of  nations. 
It  tends  to  belittlo  the  national  dignity.  It 
encourages  both  aggression  and  subserviency 
at  the  same  time,  by  the  expectation  it  creates 
that  the  difference  will  be  easily  settled  by 
arbitration,  and  invites  the  nation,  whether  the 
occasion  be  great  or  small,  to  become  a  party 
litigant,  begging  the  justice  and  protection  of 
some  emperor,  king,  prince,  or  presidetit ; 
wrangling,  squabbling  in  foreign  courts  to 
mn.inlain  its  rights  or  to  evade  a  just  responsi- 
bility. It  is  the  policy  of  litigation,  voluntary 
litigation,  and  is  demoralizing,  becausein  every 
case  there  is  an  implied  confession  that  after 
all  we  may  be  in  the  wrong.  It  impairs  the 
confidence  of  the  people  in  the  good  sense  and 
good  judgment  of  their  own  (  iveriiraent, 
teaches  them  to  doubt  whether  their  own  coun- 
try is  right  or  wrong,  and  thus  dampens  the 
national  spirit  and  saps  the  foundation  of  pa- 
triotism ;  and  what  is  the  worst  of  all,  it  takes 
from  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  nation 
the  duty  of  protecting  the  honor,  the  rights, 
and  the  interests  of  the  whole  people,  and 
commits  them  to  other  hands,  reducing  those 
constituted  authorities  to  the  humble  character 
of  mere  solicitors  for  justice  before  a  foreign 
master,  instead  of  requiring  them  to  demand 
and  enforce  that  justice,  upon  the  responsibility 
of  the  people  they  represent. 

Least  of  all  should  a  question  of  territorial 
limits  be  referred  to  arbitration.  I  know  of 
no  precedent  of  the  kind  in  our  own  history  or 
that  of  other  countries.  Such  a  mode  of  settle- 
ment, although  not  perhaps  prohibited  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  is  yet  open 
to  great  objection.  It  disturbs  and  disappoints 
the  American  citizen  who  has  become  a  settler 
and  has  invested  his  means  on  the  faith  of  the 
Government,  and  who  is  unwilling  to  renounce 
his  allegiance  to  his  country  and  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  another.  This  island  began  to  be 
settled  by  our  people  as  early  as  1850  or  1851. 
In  1852  it  was,  by  tlie  laws  of  Oregon  Territory, 
included  in  one  of  its  counties.  Territorial 
taxes  were  levied  and  collected  there.  It  was 
alter  this  occupancy  by  our  citizetis  that  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  intruded  upon  the 
island  and  inaugurated  this  dispute  wfiile  our 
})eople  were  settling  upon  it. 

These  settlers  or  tlieir  representatives  are  still 
there,  subject  to  General  Scott's  "joint  inili- 
ttiry  occupation."  Theirfamilies,  their  homes, 
their  property  are  there  ;  a  fact  well  known  to 
the  American  negotiator  of  this  treaty.  And 
yet  the  treaty  contains  not  one  word  relating 
to  their  persons  or  property,  grants  them  no 


protection,  no  right  to  sell  and  remove  from 
the  island,  but  turns  them  over  like  serfs  and 
filaves  to  their  new  masters,  should  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Swiss  Conf'ederatioti  so  will,  sub- 
jecting them  to  be  e.xpelled  by  force  from  their 
possessions,  their  houses  and  lands.  To  what 
authority,  to  what  law  can  they  appeal?  Noiu;! 
They  must  flee  when  warned,  tfiougli  their 
"flight  be  in  the  winter  or  on  the  Sabbath 
day,"  and  be  agonized  by  the  jtresence  of 
•'them  that  be  with  child  and  them  that  give 
suck."  This  may  come  of  referring  this  ques- 
tion of  boundary  to  arbitration,  an  utteraban- 
donmeut  of  the  duty  of  protecting  our  own 
citizens  and  a  heartless  transfer  of  their  desti- 
nies to  the  Power  whose  dragootiing  and  whose 
arts  nuiy  have  finally  prevailed  ! 

We  have  but  a  moment  ago  rejected  the 
Alabama  claims  treaty,  because,  in  ihe  lan- 
guage of  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations,  [.Mr.  Si'MNEU,]  it  was  "a 
snare."  Tliis  treaty  is  a  worse  one.  It  phice.s 
our  important  territorial  rights — rights  which 
Mr.  Polk  and  Mr.  Buchanan  refused  and  prop- 
erly refused  to  submit  to  arbitration  in  this 
same  northwestern  region — in  the  keeping  of 
the  "  President  of  the  Swiss  Confederation,'' 
the  temporary  head  of  a  feeble  State  without 
permanent  oflicial  position  or  responsibiliiy, 
possessing  in  small  measure  the  dignity  of  lieud 
of  a  Slate;  a  man  without  known  eminence  as 
a  jurist,  a  man  unfamiliar  •  "th  our  languugi' 
and  institutions,  representin;';  a  small  nation; 
it  places  in  his  feeble  hands  both  the  honor  of 
our  country  and  its  indubitai>le  territorial 
rights;  find  invites  him,  if  he  cat-  be  inducfd 
so  to  do,  to  tarnish  that  honor  and  to  transfer 
those  rights. 

Sir,  I  will  consent  to  no  such  thing.  I  cannot 
agree  that  because  we  have  rejected  the  Alii- 
bama  claims  treaty  w?  are  called  upon  to  relieve 
British  mortiflcation  a.  that  act  by  gracefully 
letting  England  have  her  way  in  Puget's  sound, 
My  reading  and  observation  have  made  me 
too  well  acquainted  with  the  great  historic 
truth  of  her  diplotnacy,  that  she  is  more  prac- 
ticed in  evading  treaties  than  any  other  ci  vi  lizi'il 
nation.  I  cannot  forget  that  after  the  setik" 
ment  of  the  northeastern  boundary  question  it 
turned  out  from  maps  and  other  evidance  in 
her  own  possession  but  never  made  known  to 
iis,  that  her  whole  claim  was  groundless  aii'i 
her  whole  conduct  little  better  than  bluster. 

I  cannot  forget  the  open  breach  of  treaty  I 
and  violation  of  the  duty  of  neutrality,  wlicii 
by  the  misconduct  and  culpable  neglect  of  lii-r 
Government  during  the  late  rebellion  her  own 
subjects  were  permitted  to  launch  upon  our 
unarmed  commerce  on  the  seas  the  rebel  piraie 
crafts  that  lighted  up  the  midnight  skies  wiili 
our  burning  steamers,  luigs,  and  schooners: 
nor,  that  when  our  minister,  presenting  tie  I 
facts,  remonstrat('d  against  the  fltting  out  tvi'l 
departure  of  these  rebel  corsairs  which  fiiialij 


t!i 


13 


escaped,  he  was  coolly  told  that  they  had 
escaped  in  consequence  of  the  sickness  and 
inability  of  the  law  oflicer  of  the  Crown  to 
examine  into  the  facts — a  mere  shuffle  to  cover 
upand  hide  from  the  world  the  factof  the  conni- 
vance of  the  Government  itself  with  the  rebels. 
In  short,  sir,  it  is  folly  to  affect  ignorance  o^ 
the  truth — the  gigantic,  overshadowing  truth', 
that  the  governing  and  commercial  classes  of 
England  yearned  for  the  destruction  of  our 
Government;  hungered  and  thirsted  to  see 
the  American  Government,  that  Government 
whose  fundamental  principle  is  thatall  political 
power  resides  in  the  people,  utterly  destroyed. 
This  Government  was  and  is  a  standing  scoflf, 
flung  in  the  teeth  of  legitimsicy  and  aristocracy 
everywhere.  It  is  the  Government  of  popular 
rule,  the  Government  of  liberty,  in  antagonism 
to  privilege.  It  was  natural  they  should  wish  to 
see  it  extinguished.  Such  a  result  would  have 
been  a  veriHcation  of  their  teachings.  It  would 
have  proved,  for  the  time  being  at  least,  that  the 
theory  that  the  mass  of  the  people  can  govern 
themselves  was  a  delusion,  as  they  had  taught 

'.  all  along.  And  it  would  have  done  more;  it 
would  have  have  utterly  destroyed  acommercial 
rival  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Deprived  of 
power  as  a  nation  the  United  States  would  have 
presented  two  or  three  score  of  disunited, 
feeble  States,  without  consideration  or  influ- 
ence among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  without 
nationality,  without  power  to  resist  injustice, 
hut  presenting  the  best  market  in  the  world 
for  the  sale  of  the  products  of  the  workshops 

I  of  England.  This  was  the  prospect  presented. 
Was  ever  temptation  such  as  this  held  out  to 


the  mind  of  man — the  overthrow  of  popular 
government,  and  boundless  wealth  flowing  into 
the  pockets  of  the  commercial  and  manufac- 
turing classes?  And  to  attain  these  ends  they 
were  willing  to  forswear  all  their  vows  against 
human  slavery,  all  their  professions  of  friend- 
ship for  a  "  kindred  people  having  a  common 
religion  ar.d  language,"  all  their  solemn  treat- 
ies of  peace,  amity,  and  commerce  with  us, 
and  to  make  war  upon  us  under  the  deceitful 
form  of  conceding  belligerent  rights  to  the 
rebels.  Sir,  do  not  ask  me  to  respect  the  sen- 
sibilities of  such  a  Government.  If  it  can  gain 
by  over- reaching  it  does  so,  and  sneers  at  the 
equality  of  man  whenever  man  is  weighed 
against  the  dollar. 

It  is  time,  sir,  that  that  Government  should 
understand  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
are  no  longer  to  be  trifled  with  ;  that  treaties 
tnade  with  that  people  are  not  to  be  broken 
but  kept ;  that  we  are  able,  willing,  determined, 
that  the  faith  of  England  given  to  us  in  her 
treaties  shall  be  kept.  I  say  it  without  boast- 
ing, but  she  knows  and  we  know  that  we  have 
it  in  our  power  easily  to  compel  her  to  do 
justice.  Why,  then,  omit  to  warn  her  to  sur- 
cease her  usurped  occupation  of  this  island? 
Why  permit  the  "joint  occupation"  agreed 
upon  by  General  Scott  in  1859  to  endurelonger? 
It  may  be  replied,  it  will  be  followed  by  war. 
I  do  not  believe  it.  But  should  she  choose 
war,  should  she  lift  her  weapon  in  attempting 
to  enforce  her  claim,  we  must  accept  the  issue, 
We  must  then  reckon  with  her  hilt  to  hilt ;  wt 
must  then  mark  down  the  future  boundariei 
of  this  country  with  the  point  of  the  sword, 


^] 


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